Like Normal People
by i'm a quitter
Summary: Pepper wants to have a physical relationship as much as Tony does, but she fears that it can’t be good for his health. Sex, after all, can kill...


**Like Normal People

* * *

**

Today would be the day. Tony could feel it. Today _had_ to be the day! They'd been engaged for a month and a half, for heaven's sake!

But they'd never get there if he didn't make the first move. He waited patiently in his workshop until Pepper finally made her way down with a few files and his customary espresso. She handed the cup to him without a word and he set it aside. "Why are you afraid to have sex with me?"

She blinked, pausing to look at her wrist watch. "Isn't it a little early for this?"

"Tell me why. Do you think I'm infected?"

Looking around, Pepper located a stool and sat down, slumping forward some. "Lord, give me strength…"

"I always used condoms. _Always!_ And if I wasn't sure about the woman, I'd double wrap it."

"Oh, _that_ image helps…"

"Is that why?!"

She gave a tired sigh. "No, Tony. Not at all. It's…" She sat up, her eyes roaming all around, but never resting on Tony. "I don't… want to _hurt_ you."

His eyes widened to the size of saucers. "_That's_ what you're worried about?! You do know my name, right? Tony Stark? Ring a bell? And you realize that I'm okay with just about any fetish out there? Hell, I must've invented a few…"

"That's not what I mean." She took a deep breath and finally met his eyes. "Sex… could _kill_ you."

Tony looked down at himself before looking back up at Pepper with a raised eyebrow. "I'm trying to calculate how many times I should've kicked off since my fifteenth birthday…"

"You're not getting what I'm saying, Tony," she snapped impatiently. "That scrap metal in your chest… how do you know that it won't move those pieces and pierce your heart if we have sex?"

He waved a hand dismissively. "That's nothing to worry about. It's all magnetic."

"You don't know that. Unless you've been lying to me, you haven't had sex since that thing got put in your chest. I'm not joking, Tony! I'm really worried about this! Do you know what the human body goes through when you have sex? Pupils dilate, arteries constrict, core temperature rises, heart races, blood pressure skyrockets, respiration becomes rapid and shallow, the brain fires bursts of electrical impulses from nowhere to nowhere, secretions spit out of every gland, and the muscles tense and spasm like you're lifting three times your body weight..."

Tony swallowed hard. That was an incredibly scientific and detached way of looking at it. So why the hell was it so hot? He felt his pants constricting already.

"The combination of all those factors could cause something somewhere to slip," she continued, "and that's all it takes! I'm not willing to take that chance."

Tony grumbled, thinking furiously. "How about… in the shower?"

Pepper gave him an unamused look. "You expect me to believe that there's some kind of _medical_ advantage to that?" Tony chewed on his bottom lip. "I thought so."

"It's _not_ going to kill me," he insisted. "How many times have you caught me… "

"Tony," she warned.

"… in a _very_ flexible position…"

"Don't!"

"… my eyes closed…"

"Stop it!"

"… my head thrown back…"

"I'm warning you…"

"… my hands moving faster than your eyes can follow. Almost like I'm _angry_…"

Pepper abruptly stood, throwing herself at Tony. Luckily, that'd been just the reaction he'd been hoping for and he braced himself so that they didn't fall to the ground and break something. Her kisses her harsh and demanding, and he was more than happy to comply with those demands.

She'd never be quite as willing to comply with his wants but he didn't mind, considering the fact that his wants were a little more outrageous.

But only a little. The ceiling of his workshop sounded like a good idea to _him_. Despite his assurances that the suit could easily suspend them both, she still doubted that he had enough self control to hold them up. Apparently she feared that they'd fall or that he'd drive her through the concrete ceiling. He'd let it drop since they hadn't been having sex of any kind, but now he planned on bringing it up for their one year anniversary.

He was brought back to the present when she began tugging him, walking them in the direction of the staircase. "Where are we going?" he managed to ask.

"Shower," she mumbled back, unwilling to break contact for too long.

Before they could crash into the glass door, it opened without a code or even a touch. "Thank you, Jarvis," he called. There was a long pause before Tony heard a low, "Whatever" from the computer.

They were somewhat careful as they made their way up the stairs, but Tony heard more than a few things crash on their way to the bathroom. He doubted that they meant as much to him as the woman attached to him at the moment. In a tangle of limbs, they finally made their way into the bathroom and finally began stripping each other.

But Tony, ever the eager one, reached back and turned on the shower as she tugged his shirt off. Pepper chuckled against his lips as he pulled her into the shower, both of them still partially clothed.

But she screamed in surprised the second the water soaked through her clothes and he jumped away as though he'd burned her. She reached for the water temp knob and adjusted it, glaring at Tony out of the corner of her eye. "You _want_ this to end quickly?" she seethed.

In answer, he pulled her forward and gave her a slow and languid kiss. Their tongues tangled together as the water slowly but surly adhered their clothes to their skin. When they finally managed to peel off the last layers of their clothing, Tony pulled back to admire her. _Everything_ about her was maddeningly perfect. It made him want to absolutely consume her. "Better than I imagined," he mumbled.

"Imagination can never compare," she mumbled back. From the hooded gaze she was giving him, she was drinking in the sight of him just as intensely.

And he knew that it was quite a sight. He'd gained noticeably more muscle since beginning his Iron Man missions. His chest bulged a little more, his abs were a little flatter, and his thighs…

Tony didn't mind fetishes in the least, but he'd still been surprised to learn that Pepper loved his legs nearly as much as he loved hers. She'd even commented that she probably wouldn't be as into watching football if they didn't wear the tight pants. Something about the movement when they ran, the clenching of muscles even when they stood…

Understandably, the fantasy didn't exactly make Tony salivate. But that fact that _his_ legs were making Pepper now salivate made his already rock hard member twitch to full attention. "We can't even have sex like normal people, can we?"

Her eyes slowly slid up the length of his body before finally settling on his own. "Does that surprise you," she asked flatly.

"You're staring at my legs," he pointed out.

"They're impressive."

"Should I be insulted that there isn't something a little more impressive that you'd like to look at?"

"Think whatever you want."

She leaned forward to claim his mouth again, but Tony surprised them both by nervously pulling back. "You remember when the new 'Star Wars' movie came out, and it was all built up, and then people went to see it and it really wasn't that great in bed?"

Pepper tightly pursed her lips together, as though to keep from laughing. Tony was grateful, as his ego had already taken a personal blow. He, Tony Stark, was slightly nervous about having sex with Pepper. In a million years, he never would've guessed that _he'd_ be the nervous one.

"Relax," she told him, letting her hands roam up and down his slick, bare chest. "The first one's a freebie so you can get your form back. And we're not in bed, we're in the shower. And before we start letting our actions do the talking, I'll let you in on a little secret: good sex doesn't have to take forty-five minutes. If it takes you that long to get off, then there must be something wrong with _her_, not you."

Tony blinked at her with wide eyes. "You're telling me that you'll be insulted if this takes more than ten minutes?"

"By telling you that the first one's a freebie, I was politely telling you that I don't expect this to last more than five minutes."

He gave her a sarcastic smile. "I think I just fell in love with you all over again."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "It's been well over a year for the both of us, and I highly doubt that we're as rusty as we think we are. But we're not going to find out if we keep talking, are we?"

Her hand slid further down his toned stomach, her gentle fingers wrapping around his center. She squeezed experimentally and he jolted against her, a low groan rumbling in his chest. He covered her mouth with his, devouring her hungrily.

He couldn't believe how seamlessly she fit against him. Even his hard arc reactor seemed to fit perfectly between her breasts. Like they'd been made for each other. But after Tony had done his growing up and had become Iron Man. He would've broken her heart otherwise, and they'd both be denied their soul mates. Nevertheless, she'd been made for _him_. Only him.

She pulled away from him and looked deep into his eyes. "You're thinking pretty hard about something," she commented.

"This," Tony mumbled as he ran his hands all over her. "And this." He brushed his fingers over her perfect breasts. "And this" – he ran his other hand up and down the inside of her thighs – "and this" – he nipped lightly at her throat.

With each touch she squirmed against him, as though his caresses were too feather light for her. He couldn't blame her. He'd been aching for her body for years. In the past few months it had reached a peak; he wanted her so bad that it physically hurt, especially when Pepper had pulled away from him.

But now he knew why she'd done it. She'd been worried about him. He still didn't know what had put the idea into her head that sex would kill him, but he sure as hell wasn't going to complain now that she'd gotten over it. And he was going to _prove_ to her that sex wouldn't kill him. He'd prove it to her all night long.

Pepper gave an impatient whine and Tony pressed her against the tile wall, grinding his hips into hers. Their stomachs pressed together, so close that _water_ couldn't've seeped between their skin. She gasped, but not as loud as he did. His erection was stuck between their stomachs, and Pepper seemed to realize it.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed him closer. His knees nearly buckled at the pressure, and Pepper gave him a _very_ wanton smirk. She reached for some body wash that was within her reach and tipped it upside down, squirting a large portion between their stomachs before tossing the bottle aside.

"You're as bad as I am," he said, kissing her hotly.

"Probably why we work so well together," she muttered, arching her back and rolling her hips against him.

He growled low in his throat, his eyes rolling back. The soap, her body against his, her body _moving_ against his…

His breath hitched as he leaned heavily into her, attempting to hold himself up. She unwrapped her legs from around him and grabbed his erection again, stroking both hard and slow.

He moaned so loud that the sound echoed off the walls of the spacious bathroom. God, she was trying to kill him, wasn't she? Or at least make him scream loud enough to alert all of Malibu to their activities.

"You going to make me do all the work?" she asked.

"You're not exactly letting me get any work in edgewise," he responded hoarsely. She let him go, and Tony nearly cried out in protest. "Hell no," he hissed.

He spread her legs and sheathed himself in her hot center. They both froze, already panting heavily. Pepper groaned almost as loudly as he had, and Tony smirked in triumph.

Pressing her against the wall again, Tony rotated his hips slightly and Pepper clenched her inner walls. They both gasped, Tony burying his face in her chest and Pepper throwing her head back, lips parted in a silent scream of pleasure.

The water, once hot on his skin, suddenly felt glacial when compared to the heat inside her. His entire body shook with pleasure, so much that he couldn't keep a consistent rhythm.

She impatiently tried to take the lead, but that only served to distract him more. She slid one of her legs up the length of his body and wrapped it around his waist, roughly pushing him deeper inside her. She propelled her hips forward and back, too fast for Tony to react, but certainly slow enough for him to feel. He bit his tongue hard and actually saw stars as she clenched again, panting heavily.

She'd been absolutely right. He already felt himself creeping closer to that edge of ecstasy. He reached between them and found that hot button that all women possessed and pressed down. Pepper screeched in pleasure, arching her back and nearly tipping them both to the floor of the shower. Tony threw his weight forward, slamming hard into her and trapping his hand between them. She clenched spastically against him, tipping him over the edge as well.

The arc reactor glowed just a little bit brighter, possibly accommodating his furiously beating heart. Apparently she'd been right about that too; sex could potentially move some of the shrapnel in his chest and kill him.

_Potentially!!_

His body continued to shudder and jerk, and while it felt like the best sex he'd ever had, he didn't feel like he was on the brink of death. When he finally came down from his high, he felt a smug smirk begin to tug at the corners of his lips. Pepper's breathing was still quite ragged, and she leaned limply against the wall like a wet rag. He still had it. _And_ he'd been right about sex not killing him. _**And**_ he was going to have sex with the sexiest woman alive for the rest of the day. For the rest of his _life_. What more could he possibly need?

A little ego boost to balance out his previous nervousness?

He gave a breathless chuckle, but asked anyway. "Best you've ever had?"

She hummed thoughtfully, but didn't answer…

For several seconds.

He raised his head from the crook of her neck and gave her a scandalized glare. "Are you _thinking_ about it?!?"

"You want an accurate comparison, don't you?" she shot back.

"Always the meticulous one," he muttered irately.

* * *

Some dialogue inspired by House M.D. and Scrubs. This is my first – and likely, it will be my only – smut/lemon/insert-trendy-name-for-sex-scene-here story. It was fun, but I think I'll leave it to the authors that do it better – no pun intended.


End file.
